Citations by Questia » Psychologyhttp://blog.questia.com
Research paper tips from QuestiaTue, 31 Mar 2015 16:22:53 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1Instrumental conditioning is a good psychology research paper topichttp://blog.questia.com/2015/03/instrumental-conditioning-is-a-good-psychology-research-paper-topic/
http://blog.questia.com/2015/03/instrumental-conditioning-is-a-good-psychology-research-paper-topic/#commentsMon, 30 Mar 2015 16:21:07 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=40321Instrumental learning, instrumental conditioning, or operant conditioning refers to learning things by getting rewarded or punished for certain behavior. The person or animal is influenced to relate results that are desirable or undesirable with specific behaviors.

Learn about instrumental conditioning for your next psychology research paper. (Credit: YouTube)

To increase or decrease the chance that a certain behavior will occur again, reinforcements and punishments are used.

An example of instrumental conditioning is when a child is rewarded with praise when he helps his sibling, and thus will be more likely to help his sibling in the future. If he is scolded when he pulls his sister’s hair, he is less likely to do it in the future. In these examples, the parents are using reinforcement to encourage and strengthen the good behavior of helping others, and punishment to decrease or weaken the negative behavior of hurting someone else. Reinforcements and punishments may be tangible such as getting candy for good behavior, or intangible such as praise.

B.F. Skinner’s influence on instrumental conditioning

Psychologist B.F. Skinner is considered to be the father of instrumental conditioning and his theory is based on the work of Thorndike (1905). Skinner and his colleagues and followers used the ideas of instrumental conditioning to apply them to problems including treatment of psychological issues, animal training, education, behavioral management of mentally retarded people, and industrial management. In 1938, Skinner established the term operant conditioning. According to Skinner it is more productive to analyze behavior, which can be seen rather than study internal mental events. He also believed that by observing the reasons for an action and its results, we can arrive at the best understanding of behavior.

According to Skinner, three types of responses can come after behavior: neutral operants, re-enforcers, or punishers. Neutral operants are feedback from the environment that do not increase or decrease the chance that the behavior will be repeated. Re-enforcers are feedback from the environment that increase the chances that the behavior will happen again and they can be either positive or negative. Punishers are feedback from the environment that decrease the chance that behavior will happen again and can also be positive or negative.

Skinner placed animals into a “Skinner Box” to perform experiments on animals and study operant conditioning. To demonstrate how positive reinforcement worked, Skinner put a hungry rat into the Skinner box. The rat moved around the box and would accidentally push a lever that was placed in the side of the box. As soon as this happened, a food pellet dropped next to the lever into a container. After being put into the box a few times, the rats would go straight to the lever to get the food. The positive outcome of getting food whenever they pressed the lever influenced the rats to repeat the action over and over again.

In this example, a “satisfier” promptly followed the action of pressing the lever. The Law of Effect states that the intensity of a response goes up when a “satisfier” promptly follows. This law was proposed by E.L. Thorndike based on his study of chicks and cats. A satisfier is something that a person or animal approaches on a consistent basis and does not avoid.

The strengthening of behavior can also be accomplished by removing a re-enforcer that is unpleasant. This is called negative reinforcement and removes an unfavorable stimulus, which is considered rewarding to the animal.

To demonstrate how negative reinforcement works, Skinner put a rat into his Skinner box and, once inside the box, the rat would receive a discomforting electrical current. When the rat would accidentally hit the lever inside the box, the electric shock would turn off. After being put into the box a few times, the rat learned to go straight to the lever to turn off the electrical current. The favorable result of getting rid of the electrical current ensured that the rats would, again and again, perform the action of turning off the lever as soon as they got into the box.

As an addition to the experiment, Skinner would use a light that he turned on just before the electrical current would begin. The rats learned to press the lever when the light came on to avoid the electric current that would come after the light was turned on.

The token economy

Have you ever wondered if giving children stars or stickers for good behavior works? In a token economy, there is a system where specific behaviors are targeted and reinforced with secondary re-enforcers (the tokens). These tokens are later traded for primary re-enforcers (rewards). The tokens may include things such as buttons, fake money, poker chips or stickers. The rewards may include activities, candy or privileges such as watching a movie. A teacher might use a penny jar in a classroom and, whenever the class behaves well, she adds some pennies to the jar. When the jar is full, the class will have a pizza party!

To learn more about psychology topics such as instrumental conditioning or to search for another topic, use Questia’s Topic Generator.

Do you B.F. Skinner’s theory on instrumental conditioning is valid? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Alcohol producers use a variety of media to promote alcoholic beverages in their alcohol advertisements; they are most popular for sponsoring sporting events, concerts, and magazines, and they are found anywhere on the internet.

Discuss the effects of alcohol advertisements. (Credit: Absolut.com)

Regulation

Alcohol advertisements are highly regulated and some or all forms of advertisements are prohibited in certain countries.

Target Market

Over the years, the target market of alcohol advertisements has changed with some brands targeting specific demographics. Certain drinks, such as beers are regarded as drinks for men, while some other drinks are perceived as female drinks. Some brands have been specifically created to target people who would not normally drink a certain type of drink.

Do Alcohol Advertisements Cause Greater Alcohol Consumption?

Results from research has concluded that there is a correlation between alcohol consumption and alcohol advertisements. However, it has not been concluded that the consumption of alcohol results in increased consumption of drinks or that it influences non-drinkers to begin drinking versus simply reflecting greater demand from the public. Also, no significant link between restrictions on advertising and alcohol consumption have been found. There is no proof that recognition of alcohol beverage brand labels will lead to experimentation, consumption, or abuse.

Many campaigns aim to increase consumption, brand and customer loyalty. Some argue that only brand loyalty and market share are increased by a successful marketing campaign. Consumers of alcohol already know about the product and its general features; alcohol is considered a mature product category. As a result, advertising specific brands does not substantially affect overall consumption.

It has been found that parents, rather than alcohol ads, influence young people’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviors regarding alcohol consumption. The influence of parents is 62 percent, while the influence of ads is only 4 percent for youth aged 12 to 17.

The Purpose of Advertising

Since advertising does not affect alcohol consumption, the purpose of most advertising is, instead, to encourage consumers to switch to their brand and create brand loyalty. When successful advertisers gain market share, their competitors lose market share.

Market Share vs. Total Market

Alcohol advertisements do not try to increase the total market for the product because they gain substantially more profit by increasing market share. Each year, $50 billion is the approximate retail value of the beer manufactured in the United States. A producer’s sales would increase by about $500 million if his market share is increased by one percent as a result of the producer’s advertising campaign. But if there was a one percent increase in the total market for beer, there would only be a sales increase of $50 million for a brand with a 10% market share. As this example shows, a producer does not have much incentive or ability to increase the total market but has a substantial incentive for increasing market share. Therefore, producers use advertising to increase the loyalty of their customers and encourage others to try their brand.

Commercials

It is often believed that commercials account for most of the media messages that people see about alcohol consumption. However, it is more common for people to see alcohol portrayed in TV programs than in commercials. It was found that drinking during TV programs occurred 25 times more often than during commercials.

Some people argue that alcohol commercials will make young viewers perceive alcoholic drinks as normal and that this may be a positive thing because instead of being perceived as a glamorous thing to drink alcohol, “normalizing” alcoholic drinks can make them seem as regular consumer products such as batteries, cereal and cookies. It is argued that this can be a good way to perceive alcoholic drinks because if, instead, we make it a big thing that is dangerous and should be avoided and not advertised, we then make it more powerful and wrongly attack the substance instead of discouraging irresponsible usage of the substance. Alcohol should not be seen as good or bad but as a neutral substance that can be used responsibly or irresponsibly and we must not accept or excuse alcohol abuse.

The alcohol ads often portray the alcoholic products being enjoyed by attractive people in beautiful locations just as ads for luxury cars or luxury vacations. Normalizing alcohol advertisements can help to remove the mystery and glamour. This is good for encouraging responsible and moderate use of the products. Beliefs about alcohol use that are based on responsible attitudes recognize that it is a part of life and something that people can control just like diet and exercise.

To learn more about the effects of advertisements like alcohol advertisements or to research another topic, use Questia’s Topic Generator.

How do you think that alcohol advertisements influence society and drinking habits? Let us know in the comments below.

]]>http://blog.questia.com/2015/03/how-alcohol-advertisements-affect-beliefs-and-consumption-is-an-interesting-topic-to-research/feed/0Achievement motivation is an interesting psychology topic addressing why we want to succeedhttp://blog.questia.com/2015/03/achievement-motivation-is-an-interesting-psychology-topic-addressing-why-we-want-to-succeed/
http://blog.questia.com/2015/03/achievement-motivation-is-an-interesting-psychology-topic-addressing-why-we-want-to-succeed/#commentsMon, 16 Mar 2015 16:22:02 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=40135Have you ever felt a need to succeed or to gain excellence in an area of your life? Perhaps it was in a class, your job, or a sport. If yes, you experienced achievement motivation, which is the need to succeed or achieve excellence in something.

Learn how achievement motivation makes one want to succeed. (Credit: The Fast Track)

People try to satisfy their need to succeed or excel through various avenues and are motivated by both internal and external factors.

Achievement motivation in the workplace

Achievement motivation is one of the needs that psychologist David McClelland found people need at work to affect how they perform their work tasks. McClelland analyzed motivation in the workplace and found that both workers and supervisors needed to get feedback, to set and meet realistic goals, and feel a sense of accomplishment. A significant reason for performance evaluations at work may be to encourage good work performance by employees because employees who are achievement-motivated do well in companies where they undergo routine performance evaluations. These employees may feel happy in their jobs because goals are established which give them guidance, they are given feedback on good or bad work performance or behaviors and may be given some reward for good performance. On the other hand, those who are not achievement motivated may place less significance on such evaluations.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivators

Achievement motivators may be intrinsic or extrinsic. Extrinsic motivators give us rewards for accomplishing things that satisfy expectations outside ourselves. These may include things such as getting good grades or passing a test for driving. Intrinsic motivators give us rewards for accomplishing things that satisfy needs inside ourselves such as enjoyment or satisfaction. Usually we enjoy a task more when we are motivated by intrinsic reasons because our ultimate goal is always to do things that make us feel good. Studying for a class just to get a good grade is an extrinsic motivation. If you are studying because you enjoy the class, that is an intrinsic motivator. Often, both extrinsic and intrinsic factors may be involved in why we are choosing to do something.

It has also been found that, in the short run, extrinsic motivators work well, but people need intrinsic motivation for long term performance. This may be one reason why people often recommend that individuals should choose a career path that they will enjoy doing for a long time instead of choosing a certain career only because it may provide great financial rewards. If possible, it may be best to choose a career where you are likely to be happy with doing the work for a long time and also satisfied with the compensation in that area.

Personality factors affecting motivation achievement

Certain personality traits are characterized by those with motivation achievement. These traits include the ability to delay gratification and the ability to be persistent and competitive.

Goals and Motivation

Goals should be specific, positive, and realistic to increase the chances that motivation will be boosted. Specific goals give people clarity about what they need to accomplish and how they might go about it. It is also effective to schedule the things you want to accomplish to remain on track. For example, if you are writing a book and want to complete a chapter a week, it is more effective to schedule a time each week to do this than just to say that your goal is to have all chapters completed by April 2.

Goals can give you some challenge but they should also be achievable and realistic. For example, if you are trying to lose 30 pounds, instead of stating that you will lose 30 pounds in a month, set a realistic goal for how much weight you can lose in a month for your particular situation. You may need to take various factors into consideration such as how many calories to eat a day, what to eat, how much to exercise, etc.

State your goals in positive words instead of in negative terms and state what you will do instead of what you will not do. For example, if you are trying to lose weight, instead of stating that you will not eat any chocolate bars, maybe you can make a rule that you will eat one chocolate bar a week and eat healthy foods the rest of the week.

Self-fulfilling prophecies can result from expectations so make sure you have positive expectations for the outcomes that you want to achieve. If someone expects to get a raise, for example, this will affect their confidence when asking for the raise and can help to affect the answer that they will receive. People with self-efficacy, the confidence in their ability to successfully handle challenges, are more likely to expect successful results.

To learn more about psychology topics such as achievement motivation or to search for another topic, use Questia’s Topic Generator.

]]>http://blog.questia.com/2015/03/achievement-motivation-is-an-interesting-psychology-topic-addressing-why-we-want-to-succeed/feed/0Bandura psychology is a good research paper topic for psychology enthusiastshttp://blog.questia.com/2015/03/bandura-psychology-is-a-good-research-paper-topic-for-psychology-enthusiasts/
http://blog.questia.com/2015/03/bandura-psychology-is-a-good-research-paper-topic-for-psychology-enthusiasts/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 16:21:38 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=40029Psychologist Albert Bandura created Bandura Psychology through his contributions to the various areas of psychology including therapy, personality psychology and social cognitive theory. He also affected the shift between behaviorism and cognitive psychology.

According to Bandura: “Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action.”

Social Learning Theory

Bandura is considered the founder of social learning theory. Social learning theory deals with the way in which people learn by watching other people and learn from their attitudes and behavior and the results of their behavior. According to the theory, people learn from each other through observation, imitation, and modeling. An example of social learning theory is someone learning how to dance by imitating the motions of other dancers. The theory is often considered a bridge between cognitive and behaviorist learning theories because it considers factors such as attention, motivation and memory. According to social learning theory, behavioral, cognitive and environmental factors influence human behavior.

Bandura psychology steps of modeling

In Bandura Psychology, the modeling process includes attention, retention, reproduction and motivation.

1. Attention: A person must pay attention to a behavior to be able to learn from it. Various factors may affect what we give our attention to such as competing stimuli and traits of the observer and the person being observed.

2. Retention: This refers to the individual remembering the behavior that they observed, which will influence that individual. Language and images help individuals to remember information. Using mental pictures or verbal descriptions, people retain the behaviors that they have seen and are able to later remember them to create the activity with their own actions.

3. Reproduction: Reproduction refers to transferring of symbolic ideas into actions. Behavioral reproduction involves a person formulating his actions according to the molded behavior. With practice, a person improves at recreating a behavior.

4. Motivation: A person needs to be motivated to reproduce a behavior so a person typically imagines an incentive that they will benefit from. Positive incentives reinforce actions and negative reinforcers reduce the likelihood that the molded activity will continue. Reinforcers may be tangible things such as candy or non-tangible things such as praise.

Self-Regulation

According to Bandura, people can manage their behavior through a 3-step process called self-regulation. The steps include self-observation, judgment, and self-response.

1. Self-Observation: This refers to how people see themselves, how they act and how they remember their actions.

2. Judgment: People compare what they see with expectations, such as the expectations set by society or expectations they set for themselves.

3. Self-Response: A person will give himself a good self-response if, after evaluating himself, he decides that he is doing well when compared to established standards. A person gives himself a punishing self-response if he decides that he is not doing well according to standards. Self-control therapy has used the concept of self-regulation to successfully handle issues such as smoking.

Reciprocal Determinism

According to Bandura Psychology, the environment and an individual’s behavior cause each other. This idea is known as reciprocal determinism. While studying aggression, Bandura found the behaviorist theory too basic, which only states that a person’s environment causes a person’s behavior. Bandura contended that behavior also causes environment. He also considered personality to be an interaction between behavior, environment and a person’s psychological systems.

Self-Efficacy

Bandura is also considered the originator of the theoretical construct of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to the belief in your ability to complete tasks and reach goals.

The Bobo Doll Experiment

In the Bobo Doll Experiment (1961), Bandura Psychology studied aggression and non-aggression in children using a bobo doll. A bobo doll is a 5 feet tall inflatable toy made of plastic or vinyl and it was often painted to appear to be a clown. In the experiment, one group of kids watched a model behaving aggressively towards the bobo doll; another group of children watched a model playing non-aggressively; and the last group of children did not see a model. It was found later in the experiment that the children who had watched the aggressive model made many more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups. The conclusions of the Bobo Doll Experiment support Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (1977). He believed that through observing the behavior of another person, children learn social behavior such as aggression. Bandura’s conclusions have contributed to child psychology and have significant indications about how media violence, such as violence on TV may affect the behavior of children.

To learn more about Psychology topics such as bandura psychology or to research another topic, use Questia’s Topic Generator.

How much do you believe our environment effects our thoughts and behavior, and how much do you believe we affect the environment? Is it 50/50? Let us know in the comments below.

]]>http://blog.questia.com/2015/03/bandura-psychology-is-a-good-research-paper-topic-for-psychology-enthusiasts/feed/0Role conflict is a good psychology and sociology research paper topichttp://blog.questia.com/2015/03/role-conflict-is-a-good-psychology-and-sociology-research-paper-topic/
http://blog.questia.com/2015/03/role-conflict-is-a-good-psychology-and-sociology-research-paper-topic/#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 16:28:21 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=39957When role conflict occurs, an individual experiences conflict between two or more roles that they are trying to fulfill. It can stem from social, political, or economic causes. Individuals desire to attain success and role conflict results from the challenge created by various obligations with conflicting demands. So, it is important to learn to prioritize and balance the various obligations in life as much as possible.

Discuss one of the several types of role conflict for your next research paper. (Credit: Sociology in focus)

According to nationwide surveys and case studies, interpersonal relationships and personality influence the effects of role conflict. Role conflict can take place for short periods of time or long periods of time and can be related to situational experiences.

Many forms of role conflict

One common type of role conflict is work/family conflict, which occurs when an individual has to juggle both work and family commitments. An example is a mother who is also the vice president of a company. She may need to work long hours at the office and feel distressed and conflicted about whether she is putting enough time into her work to achieve the best results and whether or not she is also spending enough time with her family. Another example of work/family conflict may be deciding between having a family or pursuing a fast track career.

Paid time off, including family sick days helps parents to cope with the stress of juggling multiple responsibilities. It allows them to take time off to meet family obligations without having to worry about losing money while not working. Workplaces with child-care facilities also help workers with families to alleviate work/family conflict by helping parents know that their kids are close by and well taken care of while they are working. Workplaces with flexible schedules also allow people to have a better work/life balance.

When personality role conflict occurs, parts of an individual’s personality are in conflict with other parts of the individual’s personality. An individual may be conflicted between the part of her personality that values being a successful business person and the part of her personality that values the role of being a mother. This is also referred to as individual personality characteristic conflict. Business owners often experience this type of conflict. Since they do not have set number of hours to work like an employee at a job, they may work many more hours to achieve their goals of business success.

Another example of personality role conflict is when a supervisor wants to be friendly with coworkers because he has friendly personality, but his role as a supervisor also requires that he maintain distance so that he may evaluate his staff.

Another form of conflict is called interpersonal relations role conflict. For example, someone who is a school teacher may think that his kids and wife expect him to spend after-work hours with them, but he may also need to grade his student’s homework after hours and deal with student, parent and school issues. He therefore experiences role conflict as he is unable to satisfy the expectation of these different roles. In intrapersonal conflict, a person in a certain role believes that others have many different expectations for him regarding that single role.

When conflicting demands are within a single area of life, intra-role conflict results. An example is when a student has lots of homework to complete from different teachers and they cannot all be completed at the same time. This is an intra-role conflict because the conflicts are from the same domain of life – student work. In contrast, inter-role conflict can occur across various areas of life. An example of inter-role conflict is when a firefighter hears that there is a disaster in the area where his family lives. The firefighter has to decide if he should help his family first to fulfill his obligation as husband and father, or to help others first to fulfill his obligation as a firefighter.

How to manage different roles

It can be challenging to manage several role obligations including demands from school, work, relationships, family, and friends, especially when someone is living in a low income household. A strategy to help deal with role conflict is to prioritize the things that are most important to us and deciding to eliminate things that are less important. One way to do this is to make a list and rate the things on that list from most important to least important.

Some politicians have decided not to run for office due to the conflicting obligations of a hectic campaign schedule and family responsibilities. By setting priorities among and within roles, you can make sure that certain requirements are always met, such as the needs of ill children, while other things may have lower priority, such as cleaning the refrigerator. Ambiguity is one of the main causes of role conflict so it is important to have clarity in what a certain role in an organization requires, including well-defined job duties. Role clarity establishes specific roles and goals to reduce role conflict and role ambiguity.

To learn more about Psychology and Sociology topics such as role conflict or to research another topic, use Questia’s Topic Generator.

What types of role conflict have you experienced in your life? Let us know in the comments below.

]]>http://blog.questia.com/2015/03/role-conflict-is-a-good-psychology-and-sociology-research-paper-topic/feed/0Theories of personality and emotion: Good research paper topicshttp://blog.questia.com/2015/02/theories-of-personality-and-emotion-good-research-paper-topics/
http://blog.questia.com/2015/02/theories-of-personality-and-emotion-good-research-paper-topics/#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 17:24:14 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=39401Personality and emotion is an area of psychological study that deals with the social behavior of individuals based on their intrapersonal factors. Personality has been defined as a pattern of behavior and goals developed over time, while emotion is an integration of feelings and wants at one particular time.

For your psychology class, here are some interesting research paper topics on the theories of personality and emotion.

Shyness in childhood has lasting effects

One idea for a research paper topic on emotions is to analyze the lasting effects of shyness. In the study “Self-Identified Childhood Shyness and Perceptions of Shy Children: Voices of Elementary School Teachers” by Mary Grace Lao and Tabasum Akseer, posted in International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, July 2013, the authors explain: “Coplan and Armer (2007) define shyness as an individual’s feelings of uneasiness or hesitation when faced with a novel or unfamiliar situation. Growing evidence suggests that shyness, particularly in early childhood, may pose a risk for later adjustment difficulties such as internalizing problems (e.g., anxiety, depressive symptoms), problems with peers (e.g., rejection, victimization), and school difficulties (e.g., poor academic achievement, school refusal).” The authors add that an individual’s childhood plays an important role with regards to learning and socialization in both the classroom and throughout the lifespan.

The role of personality and emotion in business negotiations

Another interesting research paper topic is to discuss the role of personality, emotions and strategic moves at work in the process of business negotiations. In fact, they can be responsible for the success or failure to reach agreement, compromise and resolution. Lawyer and psychologist Delee Fromm wrote in “Mind Games: Power, Personality and Emotion In Business Negotiation” posted in Negotiator Magazine 2006: “In some negotiations, especially in a bitter dispute, feelings may be more important than talk. Emotions on one side tend to generate emotions on the other side and this may quickly bring a negotiation to an impasse or an end. For this reason it is important to be aware not only of your own emotions but also those of the other party.”

Reversal theory and the psychology of things

Psychologists have been studying the way that inanimate objects (cars, clothes, houses, jewelry) can have opposite (or reversal) kinds of motivational and emotional impact on people, such as rewarding/punishing, promising/warning, helping (tools)/hindering (barrier) and arousing/relaxing. For example, a car is a functional object that brings us from one place to another, however, the industry of advertising and marketing tries to persuade us that an expensive car will provide more emotional satisfaction (reward) than a cheap one. Alternatively, a car that is stuck in traffic or keeps breaking down can provide an adverse emotional reaction (anger). The color, shape and cultural meanings attached to objects enlist different emotional responses from us.

Using this knowledge, Michael J. Apter in his study “Towards a Theory of Things: Reversal Theory and Design” published in Journal of Motivation, Emotion, and Personality 2014, said in his conclusion: “Understanding the motivational effects of the physical world of cars, streets, shops, office, and the like, should be an unavoidable part of reversal theory since they play such a large part in our lives.” Apter added that the theory of things can “help us to manipulate motivational states in useful and practical ways for a variety of purposes.”

Organizations studying personality and emotion:

For more sources of information, here are some research organizations studying personality and emotion:

Personality and Emotion Research Lab, Simon Fraser University, http://members.psyc.sfu.ca/labs/perl – studies better ways to understand the difficulties that people have in regulating or managing their emotions.

Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland – focuses on understanding the development of addictive behaviors, psychological conditions, mood, anxiety and personality disorders.

What are some other topics that describe ways that personality and emotions affect people psychologically?

]]>http://blog.questia.com/2015/02/theories-of-personality-and-emotion-good-research-paper-topics/feed/0Interpersonal conflict is a good relationship research paper topichttp://blog.questia.com/2015/01/interpersonal-conflict-good-relationship-research-paper-topic/
http://blog.questia.com/2015/01/interpersonal-conflict-good-relationship-research-paper-topic/#commentsThu, 15 Jan 2015 17:29:14 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=39037Understanding interpersonal conflict can improve your relationships as well as offer an interesting research paper topic if you are interested in psychology or behavior.

Interpersonal conflict results when two or more individuals who need to collaborate together on something have different perspectives, interests, or objectives. Interpersonal conflict can have various origins and points of focus.

Behavioral, Cognitive, and Affective Aspects

The behavioral aspect refers to someone who, due to the conflict, interferes with the goals of another through their behavior. An example of this is someone who might try to trip up a project you are working on at the office to prevent you from getting a promotion.

The cognitive aspect of disagreement between people includes a clash between the two sides that shows their different views, interests, or goals. An example of this is when the product development manager of a company disagrees with the manager in charge of production about how resources should be allocated due to having different goals for his department.

The affective aspect addresses the negative emotional impact on the conflicting individuals such as stress, anger and frustration.

Types of Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict can be people-focused or issue-focused and can arise from various causes such as personal differences, lack of information, environmental stress and role incompatibility. A few examples are listed and described below.

Lack of Information: Conflict may arise when information is not received, or the information is not interpreted as intended. To help avoid this type of conflict, it is good to be as clear and thorough in your communications as possible.

Power Struggles: Possessiveness, jealousy, and too many expectations or demands can create power struggles among people. For example, you may want your spouse to give you too much of his or her attention.

Trust Issues: Trust forms the foundation of a good relationship and disputes can arise when one partner in a relationship does not trust the other with telling the truth or with the relationship being exclusive.

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflicts are a part of everyday life and can surface with just about anyone we deal with on an ongoing basis such as spouses, siblings, parents, children, coworkers, students, or teachers. This is natural and unavoidable. It is a chance for personal growth, the understanding of others and ourselves, and for developing relationship skills. When dealt with in an assertive and sensitive manner, conflict can provide opportunities for creating improved relationships.

Interpersonal conflict at work can interfere with business operations, and interpersonal conflict in personal relationships can have a negative impact on the relationship and its lasting power, so it is important to learn to recognize and deal with this type of conflict to minimize its negative effects. Also, when the conflict becomes too serious, it can be a good idea to get a mediator involved to have another point of view and to help resolve the dispute.

Conflict Resolution Tips

Most conflicts happen at two levels at the same time: the content level and the power level (relationship level). The content level is the general issue such as the dishes needing to be washed. The power level involves components such as prestige, hierarchy, and saving face. The outcomes of conflicts can be win-lose, lose-lose, or win-win. In the win-lose outcome, one party in the conflict is satisfied in the short run but eventually the situation becomes a lose-lose for both parties. Approaches to manage or resolve conflict can include finding ways to diminish feelings of discontent by helping people to see things for the other person’s point of view.

Use “I” Language: When dealing with disputes, avoid using words that exaggerate such as “never”, “always”, “can’t”, or “nothing”, or using negative language such as “trapped” or “picked on”. Use “I” language, even when referring to the other person’s behavior, and describe how you feel instead of attacking the other person. For example, instead of saying “you just don’t care”, say “I feel that you don’t care about this issue.” Using “I” language makes it less likely that the other person will get defensive and will allow you to reach a resolution faster.

Use Probing Questions: Ask questions to find out what the other person is thinking and feeling such as “What thoughts would you like to share with me?” Encourage the person to completely express what they think and feel. This will allow you to see the full situation.

Stay Positive: Stay as positive as possible and look for encouraging things to say about the other person even if one or both of you is angry. For example, you may say “I respect you for bringing this problem to my attention.”

If you are looking for a research paper topic related to psychology and human communication, try using Questia’s Topic Generator to look for other ideas and get a head start on identifying some primary sources.

What examples of interpersonal conflict can you share and how was the conflict resolved?

]]>http://blog.questia.com/2015/01/interpersonal-conflict-good-relationship-research-paper-topic/feed/0Harold Lasswell is a good political science research paper topichttp://blog.questia.com/2014/12/harold-lasswell-is-a-good-political-science-research-paper-topic/
http://blog.questia.com/2014/12/harold-lasswell-is-a-good-political-science-research-paper-topic/#commentsMon, 15 Dec 2014 17:26:44 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=38417If you are searching for good political science research paper topics, I personally recommend writing about Harold D. Lasswell. I have often written about his model of communication, which focuses on “Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect?”

Harold Dwight Lasswell, 1902-1978. (Credit: Yale Library)

But Lasswell was a 20th-century political scientist as well as a communication theorist. Lasswell acted as president of the American Political Science Association. He is best known for his theoretical grouping of psychology and politics, specifically as it relates to political propaganda. The American Political Science Association, the International Society of Political Psychology, Policy Sciences, the Policy Studies Organization, and the Society for Policy Sciences all stand as legacies of Lasswell’s revolutionary ideas. He died in 1978, esteemed as an original and progressive political scientist.

Early years of Lasswell

Lasswell was born in Donnellson, Illinois, in 1902 to a Presbyterian family. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1922. Just 24 years old, Lasswell wrote his groundbreaking dissertation, Propaganda Technique in the World War, which was considered an exceptional study on communication theory. Thereafter, he studied at various universities in Europe where he was highly influenced by Freud’s psychological theories.

Lasswell became a professor at the University of Chicago and then studied at the Washington D.C. School of Psychiatry. During World War II, he worked at the Library of Congress as the director of war communications research. He was particularly intrigued by the propaganda techniques used by Hitler and the Nazi Party to obtain the loyalty and faith of the German people. After the war, he became a professor of law and political science at Yale University.

In 1930, Lasswell published Psychopathology and Politics, in which he argued that psychoanalyzing politicians can lead to further understanding of politics. This theory cemented his position as a leading researcher of behavioralism. He believed that Freudian psychoanalytic methods would revolutionize the future of politics and offer foolproof insights into the truth. He termed his approach as the “idea of preventive politics.”

Facing the critics

Many detractors of his work objected to the idea that social scientists like Lasswell would be able to manipulate the political spectrum. Such criticism prevented a number of Lasswell’s works from being published in major political science journals. Lasswell founded his own journals: Public Opinion Quarterly and Policy Sciences.

Lasswell wrote World Politics and Personal Insecurity in 1935, a work that was lauded as a “tie between state symbolism and the individual psyche.” Lasswell would go on to define political terms in his 1936 book, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How. Lasswell pinpointed the driving forces of politics as being income, security and respect. Other major works by Lasswell include The Garrison State and Power and Personality.

Lasswell’s fixation on political terminology reached a climax in his 1950 publication, Power and Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry. Many critics accused Lasswell of promoting his own political values in his work, while others considered him ahead of his time. By employing content-analysis techniques, he postulated that certain political terms were laden with psychological tones that evoke specific emotional responses in the public.

William Ascher and Barbara Hirschfelder-Ascher, authors of Revitalizing Political Psychology: The Legacy of Harold D. Lasswell, attribute Lasswell with introducing psychology into the political arena. Ascher asserts that “Lasswell’s true contribution was in adapting and disciplining the Freudian (and related) psycho-dynamic functional approaches by recasting reductionist, absolutist propositions into pragmatist hypotheses, securing a much stronger empirical base, and wedding psycho-dynamic functional insights with the broadest range of political, economic, and sociological explanations.”

Changing the game in politics

Lasswell was instrumental in turning politics into a pragmatic and empirical focus of study. According to Lasswell, the average person is motivated by both personal background and the social or political context of his/her time. Varying environments will stimulate specific priorities.

As there are infinite factors contributing to the individual psyche, there is no universal formula that can predict the motivations and priorities of individuals. This renders Lasswell’s theories hypothetical. Lasswell’s work does hint at the effect the subconscious may have on political drives.

Yet Lasswell did offer a formulaic approach to motivations in political leaders. Jacob Heilbrunn examines the drive behind power-hungry politicians using Harold Lasswell’s psychoanalytical prism. Heilbrunn writes: “After conducting a series of interviews with leading political figures, [Lasswell] concluded that three types existed: the Agitator, the Administrator, and the Theorist.”

Lasswell even came up with a formula that took into account all the factors that would compel a person to become politically active. He claims that private motives influence displacement onto a public object, thereby leading to rationalization in terms of public interest that in turn, results in the political figure.

If you are interested in writing a paper on Harold Lasswell, then you’ll find a section of full-text books and articles in the Questia online research library. However, if you aren’t motivated to write about his revolutionary ideas, then use Questia’s Topic Generator to look for other subjects that will stimulate your political drives.

]]>http://blog.questia.com/2014/12/harold-lasswell-is-a-good-political-science-research-paper-topic/feed/0Famous psychologists are popular psychology research paper topicshttp://blog.questia.com/2014/11/famous-psychologists-are-popular-psychology-research-paper-topics/
http://blog.questia.com/2014/11/famous-psychologists-are-popular-psychology-research-paper-topics/#commentsThu, 27 Nov 2014 17:25:44 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=37893Are you searching for popular psychology research paper topics? Well, does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

Ivan Pavlov, famous psychologist. (Credit: Pulse)

Seriously, you will find thousands of books and scholarly articles about Ivan Pavlov and other famous psychologists in Questia, the premier online research and paper writing resource.

Wilhelm Wundt

The father of experimental psychology. (Credit: Famous Psychologists)

Psychology is considered a relatively new discipline in the study of behavior. The discipline as a science might be attributable to Wilhelm Wundt, also considered the founder of structural psychology. His doctrine, which his student Edward Titchener called structuralism, stressed the framework through which thought and mind operate. It emphasizes three things: consciousness, the formation of experience and the mind’s inner workings to project that experience.

Sigmund Freud

The developer of psychoanalysis. (Credit: Bio)

Perhaps most famous of the schools of psychology is psychoanalysis as pioneered by Sigmund Freud. His theories were built on the work of others, but his summations became the most famous. He originally started out on a career in neurology research, though the private practice he would open later dealt in psychopathology. His most well-known ideas revolved around the unconscious mind and the sexual elements of individuals’ upbringing. He extrapolated from the ideas of William James, theorizing that there was a consciousness and a repository for information and repressed memories that he termed the unconscious.

He hypothesized that a pre-conscious stage served in bringing such repressed memories or new ideas into the conscious state. He later amended his ideas by adding the elements of the hedonistic, impulsive id and the moralistic, ethical part of the psyche called the super-ego. These two, almost akin to the shoulder-sitting demon and angel, are moderated by the ego, which produces a practical action based on the ideas from the other two elements of the psyche. His development of psychoanalysis relied primarily on the concept of repression, recommending a developed “talk therapy” that would seek out long dormant memories or ideas. Many of his methods were a response to hypnosis, which he deemed weak and unreliable as a method of uncovering psychological ills.

Carl Jung

The transpersonal pioneer. (Credit: Sofia University)

One of his most famous disciples was Carl Jung, who developed a number of core concepts in what is today considered basic psychology. The concepts of introversion and extraversion are attributed to his work. Additionally, he hypothesized that social norms are developed out of archetypes, a stereotypical perception of some concrete or abstract concepts that informs an individual’s presumptive thoughts. This concept is viewed as critical in his theories of the collective unconscious, a concept in social psychology that hypothesizes that the histories and surroundings of a community inform its political views, aspirations and values. However, Jung believed there was a biologically inherited component to the idea and not merely a construct learned later. The ideas however resemble the idea of collective memory.

B.F. Skinner

Social philosopher in behavioral psychology. (Credit: George Dvorsky)

Behaviorism, pioneered by other major psychologists, underwent its most radical and notable shifts under B.F. Skinner. Skinner was a researcher of what is called radical behaviorism, which he distinguished in terms of positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Respectively, behavior would be conditioned via reinforcement. The positive reward of something abstract like praise or something tangible constitutes positive reinforcement, while the removal of a desirable or necessary thing would constitute negative reinforcement. He researched operant conditioning and is also famous for the invention of the operant conditioning chamber, the environment of which is altered by the researcher in response to the subject’s behavior within the chamber.

Psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

Studied humanistic and cognitivism learning. (Credit: Murtala Lawal)

The humanistic school of psychology is represented by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Humanistic psychology itself views every individual, thus every case, as unique, and every subject as having an achievable potential by way of making rational choices. Abraham Maslow emphasized a hierarchy of needs from which individuals obtained the tools and experience necessary for “self-actualization,” realizing one’s full and maximum potential. He worked with an emphasis on studying individuals whose life experiences varied; he particularly included the most highly achieving members of society.

Rogers came to create the most widely used form of talk psychotherapy today, which emphasizes an unconditional positive regard for the patient from a non-judgmental therapist in an extremely comfortable environment. However, his colleague Rollo May came to form a more neutral, less than positive, view of human nature. His ideas formulated the basis of existentialist psychology, heavily influenced by existentialist philosophers.

Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor who emphasized the pursuit of meaning in life as a source of anxiety, developed logotherapy as a subsection of these views on psychology, which viewed all experience in life and all pursuits to be part of every individual’s efforts to pursue meaning.

If you are interested in writing a paper on one of these famous psychologists and their theories, then you’ll find a section of full-text books and articles in the Questia online research library. However, if you don’t “feel” happy about what you discover, then use Questia’s Topic Generator to look for other subjects that you could analyze.

What other psychology topics would you recommend for a research paper? Let us know in the comments.

]]>http://blog.questia.com/2014/11/famous-psychologists-are-popular-psychology-research-paper-topics/feed/0Six good psychology research topics for college studentshttp://blog.questia.com/2014/11/six-good-psychology-research-topics-for-college-students/
http://blog.questia.com/2014/11/six-good-psychology-research-topics-for-college-students/#commentsTue, 11 Nov 2014 17:22:47 +0000http://blog.questia.com/?p=37593You don’t need to feel like a rat in a maze to find good psychology research topics for college students. Questia, your online research library and paper writing resource, contains thousands of scholarly articles and books.

Psychology has many topics to choose from for a research paper. (Credit: Psychology Schools)

Psychology encompasses a broad and continuous study of the mind, tracing back from ancient civilization through modern day today. This complex study has grown throughout the years covering numerous subjects of science that are categorized in six major branches. Below are brief descriptions of each one to help you find a research topic that interests you.

6 major branches of psychology

1. Clinical Psychology Research Topics: developed from the concept in modern psychology that there are huge differences between people. Since the late twentieth century, clinical psychology has been considered the most popular branch of psychology.

The term was first introduced in 1907 in a paper by US psychologist Lightner Witmer (1867 to 1956), a former student of Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (1832 to 1920). According to Witmer clinical psychology is “the study of individuals, by observation or experimentation, with the intention of promoting change.” Still there is no officially accepted definition of the term.

2. Cognitive Psychology Research Topics: concentrates on how the brain absorbs and utilizes learned knowledge through sensory, perceptual and tactile senses. This stream of knowledge moves through the most standard model of cognitive psychology:

Processing

Learning

Storing/Memory

Because this learned knowledge is essentially what controls or influences action in every day decisions, it focuses on the functions of the mental process, and enhancing learning capabilities in order to maintain information flow. Questia provides topics from top sources that contribute to the importance of shared knowledge and methods of optimizing intellectual growth.

3. Developmental Psychology Research Topics: the discipline which studies cognitive, emotional, mental and social development. This branch of psychology is particularly interested in how people grow and develop over time. Unlike child psychology, developmental psychology covers age-related changes throughout the human life.

The major dichotomies in developmental psychology are the debates about continuity versus discontinuity and nature versus nurture. Supporters of the continuous model argue that development is a smooth change, while their opponents claim that there are discrete stages in life. On the other hand, the nature-versus-nurture debate is centered on the role of heredity and genetics as opposed to learning and upbringing.

4.Evolutionary Psychology Research Topics: the science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interaction with the environment. Psychologists study processes of sense perception, thinking, learning, cognition, emotions and motivations, personality, abnormal behavior, interactions between individuals, and interactions with the environment.

The field is closely allied with such disciplines as anthropology and sociology in its concerns with social and environmental influences on behavior; physics in its treatment of vision, hearing, and touch; and biology in the study of the physiological basis of behavior. In its earliest speculative period, psychological study was chiefly embodied in philosophical and theological discussions of the soul.

5. Forensic Psychology Research Topics: also known as medical jurisprudence, it is the application of medical science to legal problems. It is typically involved in cases concerning blood relationship, mental illness, injury, or death resulting from violence. The establishment of serious mental illness by a licensed psychologist can be used in demonstrating incompetency to stand trial, a technique which may be used in the insanity defense, albeit infrequently.

6. Social Psychology Research Topics: the development that bridges from psychology and sociology. Until this day, psychologists still argue whether to classify this study as scientific or objective as it examines social exchange involving the application of both experimentation and observation. These two approaches are:

Experimental – validity in results and research rely on the application science.

Critical – the inconsistencies of human interaction place science as an unreliable source in social psychology, therefore all surrounding knowledge must be considered.

In consideration of both of these approaches, psychologists come closer to understanding human interaction and how perception is conceived through others. The majority of influences that affect our perception and social identity involve culture, gender and cognitive thought.

If you are interested in writing a paper on one of these psychology research topics, then you’ll find a section of full-text books and articles in the Questia online research library. However, if you don’t go bananas about what you discover, then use Questia’s Topic Generator to look for all of the others that are out there.

What other psychology topics would you recommend for a research paper? Let us know in the comments.